Newcastle United rocked by fresh injury blow during Fulham clash - only two fit defenders
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
Newcastle United injury news: Eddie Howe and Newcastle United have been handed another potentially major injury scare.
Newcastle United have been dealt a further defensive injury blow after Tino Livramento was substituted in the 76th minute of their Carabao Cup clash with Fulham at St James’ Park.
Livramento started that game at left-back following a pre-match blow to Lewis Hall. Hall was left completely out of Eddie Howe’s matchday squad, with it being revealed just before kick-off that the defender had suffered a ‘minor hamstring injury’.
Livramento’s switch to right back saw Lewis Miley fill in at right-back - a role he played in during the second half of their defeat against Marseille in France last month. Hall’s injury had meant that the Magpies were down to just three fit senior defenders with Malick Thiaw and Fabian Schar the only other fit defenders.
Livramento’s premature departure from the pitch, therefore, will be yet another headache for Howe to solve ahead of Saturday’s game with Chelsea if the former Saints man is not judged fit enough to feature. Murphy, who is yet to start a competitive game for Newcastle United, is the obvious replacement for Livramento.
Livramento left the pitch with the sides level at 1-1. The Magpies had opened the scoring through Yoane Wissa just ten minutes into his first start for the club before Sasa Lukic netted an equaliser six minutes later to restore parity.
Eddie Howe discusses defensive injury worries
Speaking ahead of their clash with Fulham, Howe directly addressed the club’s need to manage Livramento and Hall’s minutes, but admitted they were incapable of doing that in their current injury predicament: “I'd love to look after them, but I don't know how we can with the scale of games that we've got.
“So I think I'll speak to them on an individual basis and see how they are at the moment. They're OK.
“They're good. The beauty of it is they're young.
“They're very, very good athletes, they've got great attitudes. They want to play.
“Of course, we need to speak to our performance team and make sure that they're fit to play. But with every team selection, you're putting people on the pitch and there's a risk of injury. But we're getting to a dangerous sort of point with our defensive structure.”
Kiera Trippier and Emil Krafth remained sidelined by injury and aren’t expected to feature until the new year. Dan Burn, meanwhile, has been ruled-out of action for between four and six weeks after he suffered a punctured lung and rib injuries following a collision with Sunderland’s Nordi Mukiele on Sunday.
The Gazette has launched a new WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
Burn played on following that tackle, but was withdrawn by medical staff a few moments later. He ended the day in hospital after struggling to breathe.
Speaking about Burn, Howe added: “It was sort of under the radar really in terms of reviewing the game, the importance of Dan and losing him just for everything that he brings to the team. That was a big blow for us.
“I think he's been excellent in recent weeks. So yeah, it's a rib problem with some issue with his lungs.
“We wish him well. It will probably be around four to six weeks.”